The Secret of Sweet Treats Kingdom The Board Game Chronicles: Book 1, by Kim Davis

 Publication January 30, 2024

Fun! Just plain ol' fun. A bit of a mix of Alice in Wonderland, albeit with a mint green rabbit, and Dorothy trying to find her way home from Oz, with maybe a bit of Wonka treats tossed in for good measure. It's a quick, easy read and I'm not sure I stopped grinning more than a time or two all the way through. Magical gingerbread characters, an enchanted horse, castles, kings and princesses, and Taylor Swift even gets a mention. Sorry about your Swiftie tee-shirt, Amber.

After starting out in a realistic bent, an older sister annoyed at missing her BFF's birthday party to babysit her little sister, things get interesting. Ava, the little sister, keeps insisting Amber play the Sweet Treats board game with her and, even worse, keeps beating Amber. In a fit of anger, Amber flings the board away, breaking it into pieces. That's when the fun begins. Sucked into a swirling vortex, Amber and Eva find themselves in a land ruled by an evil queen, one where they soft land on what appears to be a football-sized trampoline of .... jello? Nope, you're not in California any more, girls. That was no earthquake.

I stopped taking notes at that point and just enjoyed. We meet an array of characters, from the rabbit and gingerbread families, to an enchanted horse, not to mention a syrup swamp and tales of golden princesses. Amber just wants to rescue her sister and go home. First she has to find her, however. I won't ruin the story and share. It's much too much fun to start your journey with a blank slate just as Amber does after her sister is taken away by the evil queen. I honestly didn't intend to read it all in basically one setting but, well, once I started reading, I fell under the book's spell and next thing your know, "The End". How it got there is yours to discover. Enjoy the trip and don't eat too many sweet treats. Sugar highs can be rough, you know. Thanks #BookSirens and author #KimDavis for giving me this sneak peak at a brand new middle-grade series. I'm way past that age but I'll be back.